LSG vs CSK: Dhoni opts to bowl; Ashwin dropped

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain MS Dhoni won the toss and opted to bowl against hosts Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in an IPL 2025 match in Lucknow on Monday evening (April 14).

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CSK, who are at the bottom of the points table, made two changes, bringing in Shaik Rasheed in place of Devon Conway while Ravichandran Ashwin made way for Jamie Overton.

IPL 2025 Points Table

LSG made one change with Mitchell Marsh coming back into the side in place of Himmat Singh.

What captains said

Dhoni: "We are blessed, we get good support wherever we go. 'Thank you', to all the fans. We want to bowl first, there's chances of dew here. The wicket gets better in the second innings. It's important to set the right temperament. We haven't been consistent with our batting. It's important to have a positive mindset, play those big shots. It's a matter of time. We have a couple of changes. Overton and Rasheed come in for Ashwin and Conway."

"We would have bowled first. In Lucknow, it's slower in the first innings, gets better gradually. The only thing we talked about CSK is that we don't want to give them an opening, just need to give our 100%. We want to go out there and play good cricket. Only one change - Marsh comes back in for Himmat Singh," said LSG skipper Rishabh Pant.

Playing XIs

Chennai Super Kings: Shaik Rasheed, Rachin Ravindra, Rahul Tripathi, Vijay Shankar, Ravindra Jadeja, Jamie Overton, MS Dhoni (captain/wicketkeeper), Anshul Kamboj, Noor Ahmad, Khaleel Ahmed, Matheesha Pathirana.

Impact Subs: Shivam Dube, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Sam Curran, Deepak Hooda.

Lucknow Super Giants: Aiden Markram, Mitchell Marsh, Nicholas Pooran, Ayush Badoni, Rishabh Pant (captain/wicketkeeper), David Miller, Abdul Samad, Shardul Thakur, Avesh Khan, Akash Deep, Digvesh Singh Rathi.

Impact Subs: Ravi Bishnoi, Prince Yadav, Shahbaz Ahmed, Matthew Breetzke, Himmat Singh.